


things unsaid;

by sterekfluffer (teampancakes)



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Babysitting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 01:16:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teampancakes/pseuds/sterekfluffer
Summary: betty and jughead babysit polly's daughter, june, for a night





	things unsaid;

**Author's Note:**

> happy birthday zaha! here's some bughead fluff ft. a baby :p i hope you like it! ever since you loved that b99 fic i wrote, i knew i had to write you something for your birthday!! ilysm <3

Betty readjusts the strap of the bag she’s brought along. It’s cutting into her shoulder, probably because she had tossed in everything that might possibly come in handy. In her arms, June gurgles and a little bit of spit flies onto Betty’s neck.

At that point, the door opens to reveal Jughead. He’s wearing a white shirt, tucked into black dress pants, and looks quite dapper. Betty is suddenly aware that she’s only wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, and she’s holding a baby. She isn’t even sure when she last changed her t-shirt.

“Oh, you brought alone June!” Jughead grins, holding his arms out for her. June coos at the sight of him and Betty quickly wipes the spit of her neck with her sleeve as Jughead takes June and walks inside.

Betty closes the door and starts to ramble.  “I’m so sorry! Polly had to rush out because her advisor called for an urgent meeting and as you know, mom and dad are in New York for the weekend.”

The hallway is dimly lit and Jughead flips on a switch as he gives her an incredulous stare. “Why are you apologising, Bets? I love June-bug. Honestly, it’s no trouble at all.”

Betty smiles. She hadn’t wanted to cancel on Jughead but she also couldn’t have left June behind. And Jughead had met June quite a few times by now and he was good with her, so she hadn’t been that worried. She follows Jughead into the dining room and stops short.

“Oh my god.” There are candles everywhere, and fancy silverware set out. She notices the vases on the mantle are full of roses. Jughead turns to give her a sheepish grin.

“Uh, yeah. Um, surprise?” He’s bouncing June on his hip and she’s giggling madly. Betty’s hands go up to cover her mouth involuntarily.

“You didn’t tell me you were doing all of this!” she says.

“It wouldn’t have been a surprise then,” Jughead says dryly, setting June down on the couch and taking Betty’s hands in his. They stand in front of the couch, with June looking up at them inquisitively.

“Oh, Juggie. This is so lovely,” Betty sighs happily, reaching up to pull of his beanie so she can run her fingers through his hair.

“I’m glad you like it,” Jughead beams, leaning in to kiss her. June suddenly burps and they break apart, laughing.

“I feel so awkward. I haven’t even dressed up or anything,” Betty runs a finger through her stringy ponytail and shrugs her shoulders, looking embarrassed. “I just thought it was a normal dinner and uh,” she darts a glance in the baby’s direction, “– you know, S-E-X.”

Jughead frowns and cups her face with both hands. “Are you ridiculous? You’d look good even in a dumpster.” He presses a kiss to her forehead and then laughs. “Also, I’m _pretty_ sure June can’t talk yet, so you could’ve just said it out loud.”

Betty giggles and raises an eyebrow. “That’s where you’re wrong, Jones. She said her first word yesterday.”

“Oh wow, really?” Jughead asks, looking impressed. Betty sinks down on the sofa next to June and holds out her hand for June to hold.

“It was ‘mama’ so like, it’s not a big deal considering that’s nearly every baby’s first word,” she says contemplatively. Jughead sits down next to her and puts a hand on her knee soothingly.

“Small achievements, Betty. Small achievements.”

Betty chews on her lower lip and Jughead senses that something’s on her mind. “I know, I’m happy but – when she said it, I realized, there wasn’t even the smallest possibility her first word would be ‘da’ or ‘dad’ or something like that,” Betty turns to look at him with slightly sad eyes and he throws an arm around her shoulder, brings her close and squeezes slightly.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he whispers into her hair. “I’m sure Polly misses Jason but she’s really happy with what she’s doing and you guys are all there to support her.” Betty sniffs a little but snuggles into Jughead’s side, closing her eyes briefly.  

“I just wish it wasn’t like this.”

“There’s only so much you can do, Bets,” Jughead lowers his hand to rub her back softly. “It is what it is. Don’t worry about Polly. She’s one of the strongest women I’ve ever met.”

Betty pulls back a little so she can look at him and nods with a small smile. Jughead touches his forehead to hers and smooths her hair behind her ears. Betty closes her eyes and heaves a sigh. Jughead wants to hold her until she feels completely okay but she turns to look at June at that point, and then at the clock.

“It’s almost June’s bedtime. Do you mind if I give her the bottle before we start on our dinner?”

“Of course not,” he says as Betty gets up.  “Here. Let me hold her while you prepare it.” He settles June into his arms and smiles down at her.

“Thanks, Juggie.” Betty stoops and plants a kiss in his hair before going to her bag to rummage through it for the bottle.

***

They turn the TV on as background noise. Jughead settles into one corner of the couch, with Betty slumped across his chest and June in her arms. As she chugs away at the bottle, Betty leans against Jughead and turns her face up to nuzzle his jaw.

“FP’s out?” she asks.

Jughead flicks through some channels and nods. “Yeah, he cleared out when he found I was planning all this. Said he’d just get in the way. He says hello, though.” Betty smiles.

They don’t talk for a few minutes. Then, Betty asks, “You doing okay?” FP’s drinking has always been an on-off thing but he just came out of a long rehab, and he’s doing better than ever.

Jughead stops at the Discovery channel and smiles down at Betty. “I am,” he says, taking Betty’s hand with the one not holding the remote. Rubbing slow circles with his thumb, he continues. “He’s much better now. We talk a lot, especially about my writing.”

“I’m glad,” Betty snuggles into his side a bit more and hoists June a little higher.

They watch a documentary on lions for a little while before Jughead speaks again. “Thank you, Betty.”

“For what?” Betty asks questioningly. “I haven’t done anything.”

Jughead turns off the TV and lets go of her hand to cup her cheek instead. “For believing in FP and for pushing me to believe in it too,” he says sincerely. Betty clucks her tongue.

“It was nothing, don’t be silly. FP’s a good man,” she tells him. In her arms, June goes limp. “Oh, look, June is almost asleep.”

Jughead shifts a little so he can extract his arm from behind Betty. Holding his hands out for the baby, he asks, “Do you want me to take her to the spare room and put her down? Don’t worry, I have extra pillows I can prop around her so she doesn’t roll over and fall.”

Betty grins at his prepared-ness and hands June over. She sniffles a bit but goes willingly, resting her head against Jughead’s broad shoulder. Betty feels a slight lump in her throat as she watches Jughead get up and carry the baby to the spare room. Her heart is doing flips in her chest and she clears her throat and gets up too.

“I’ll bring the baby monitor,” she calls out to Jughead. He makes a noise of acknowledgement and disappears down the hall.

A few minutes later, she enters the room with the little monitor in hand. Jughead has just finished putting a bunch of pillows around June. Betty leans down to press a kiss to her forehead and props the baby monitor on the mantle at an angle where she’s visible from. As she steps back into the doorway, Jughead flips the switch to turn the light off and they stand there for a minute, looking at June, peacefully asleep.

Jughead’s arms wrap around Betty’s waist and one of his hands splays almost protectively across her flat stomach in a way that makes her heart jump into her throat with the implication of the gesture. She leans heavily into him and brings her own hand up to guide his under her shirt and over her the warm skin of her belly. She can feel his sharp intake of breath and then his arms tighten and he leans down to rest his chin on her shoulder. She sighs happily and her heart feels fuller than it ever has.

They’re young but she loves him in a way she’s never loved anyone and she knows he loves her. At that moment, she can’t imagine living her life with anyone other than him, and by the way he’s holding her close, she can tell he feels the same.

“I love you, Jughead Jones,” she whispers, turning around slowly so that she’s facing him. He’s smiling so brightly it’s almost blinding. She brings her arms up to his shoulders and he links his at the small of her back.

“I love you, Betty Cooper.” He grins and then, his expression turns softer and more serious. They’ve said the l-word to each other so many times by now but this time, it’s different. It tastes of forever. “I know it’s too early to say this but –“

“I feel the same,” she cuts him off, not wanting him to say it and jinx it. “Don’t say it now. Sometimes stuff unsaid is stronger than stuff that’s said,” she smiles.

Jughead smiles back and they turn to look at June once more before walking back into the dining room for dinner. They both feel the same, and that’s the only thing that matters.

 


End file.
